spider

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In East Africa lives a species of spider that drinks mammalian blood. But fear not – Evarcha culicivora is an indirect vampire – it sates its thirst by preying on female mosquitoes that have previously fed on blood themselves. Even though its habitat is full of non-biting midges called “lake flies”, it can tell the…

In the forests of South Africa lurks an arachnophobe’s nightmare – Nephila kowaci, the largest web-spinning spider in the world. The females of this newly discovered species have bodies that are 3-4 centimetres in length (1.5 inches) and legs that are each around 7.5cm long (3 inches). This new species is the largest of an…

In Latin America, there lives a unique spider called Bagheera kiplingi. It’s a jumping spider and it shares the group’s large, acute eyes and prodigious leaping ability. But it also has a trait that singles it out among all 40,000 species of spider – it’s mostly vegetarian. Virtually all spiders are predators. They may hunt…

It’s been just three weeks since I last wrote about the dark-footed ant-spider Myrmarachne melanotarsa, but this is one species that just keeps getting more and more interesting. To quickly recap, M.melanotarsa is a jumping spider that protects itself from predators (like other jumping spiders) by resembling an ant. Earlier this month, Ximena Nelson and…

The animal world is full of harmless liars, who mimic species more dangerous than themselves in order to avoid the attention of predators. But none do it quite like the dark-footed ant-spider Myrmarachne melanotarsa. As its name suggests, this small species of jumping spider, discovered just nine years ago, impersonates ants. In itself, that’s nothing…

The courtship rituals of the spider Harpactea sadistica start innocently enough, with a dance and a hug. The male spider taps the female gently with his front legs and embraces her. But from that point onwards, things for the female go rapidly downhill. The male bites her and she becomes passive, allowing him to manoeuvre…

The wiping of unwanted memories is a common staple of science-fiction and if you believe this weekend’s headlines, you might think that the prospect has just become a reality. The Press Association said that a “drug helps erase fearful memories“, while the ever-hyperbolic Daily Mail talked about a “pill to erase bad memories“. The comparisons…